Role of Islam in New Libya Uncertain

By Elizabeth Arrott from Tripoli

Rebel guns near a mosque in Tripoli, August 27, 2011 Photo: VOA - E. Arrott

Libyan rebels are still hunting for Moammar Gadhafi, but many of their countrymen are taking time marking the end of the first holy month of Ramadan without their longtime secular leader.  Islam in Libya is undergoing a resurgence. The question now being asked is how much it will influence the next government.  

The call to prayer rings out over Tripoli, a city of mosques until recently tightly controlled by Moammar Gadhafi. 

These are pivotal times for Libya's faithful, who for decades had to follow a leader who put the celebration of himself before that of God. 

At the Mawlai Mohammad Mosque, one of Tripoli's largest,  Abdallah Ahmed Bilal takes pride in what the congregation accomplished.

"The mosque has had a very important role during this period," he said. "It organized some revolutionary people to go to fight Gadhafi in any way.  And he [Gadhafi] also shelled it.  He bombed this mosque." 

The mosque survived the attack largely unscathed.  But the symbolism proved powerful.

One man, his anger just barely contained, says "This is the mosque of God."  He explains that when they tried to praise God, "Allahu Akbar" over the loudspeakers, Gadhafi forces attacked.  He calls his former leader a dictator. (VOA News)